Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus) vs iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
Here we compared two mid-range tablets: the 11-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus) (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 695) that was released on October 5, 2023, against the Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021), which is powered by Apple A13 Bionic and came out 2 years and 1 month before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus)
- Higher display refresh rate – 90 Hz
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
- Has 33% more RAM: 4GB versus 3GB
- Thinner bezels – 7.1% more screen real estate
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
- 87% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1087K versus 582K)
- Comes with 1517 mAh larger battery capacity: 8557 vs 7040 mAh
- Fingerprint scanner
- 29% higher pixel density (265 vs 206 PPI)
- Supports higher wattage charging (30W versus 15W)
- 2x faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1792 and 908 points
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | TFT LCD | IPS LCD |
| Size | 11 inches | 10.2 inches |
| Resolution | 1200 x 1920 pixels | 1620 x 2160 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 8:5 | 4:3 |
| PPI | 206 ppi | 265 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 90 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 500 nits | 500 nits |
| HDR support | No | No |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 80.9% | 73.8% |
| Display features | - | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 94.2% | 97.9% |
| PWM | Not detected | 40000 Hz |
| Response time | 42 ms | 27 ms |
| Contrast | 1409:1 | 1014:1 |
Screen space comparison
Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus)
11″ (8:5 ratio) = 54.4 in2
iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
10.2″ (4:3 ratio) = 49.9 in2
~8% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 257.1 mm (10.12 inches) | 250.6 mm (9.87 inches) |
| Width | 168.7 mm (6.64 inches) | 174.1 mm (6.85 inches) |
| Thickness | 6.9 mm (0.27 inches) | 7.5 mm (0.3 inches) |
| Weight | 480 g (16.93 oz) | 487 g (17.18 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | No |
| Rear material | Metal | Metal |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Silver, Gray, Blue | Silver, Gray |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | Yes, in-button |
| Area | 434 cm2 (67.2 inches2) | 436 cm2 (67.6 inches2) |
| Repairability | Average (2.81/5) | - |
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (125th and 96th place)
Android Tablet Ranking (#97th place)
iPad Ranking (#25th place)
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 | Apple A13 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2200 MHz | 2650 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 660 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 2 cores at 2.2 GHz: Kryo 660 Gold (Cortex-A78) |
- 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Thunder - 2 cores at 2.65 GHz: Lightning |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 6 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon 686 | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Adreno 619 | Apple GPU 4-core |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 840 MHz | 1230 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~430.1 GFLOPS | ~629.8 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 1405 | - |
| Single-core score | 908 | 1792 |
| Multi-core score | 2072 | 4214 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 245267 | 272419 |
| GPU | 57538 | 317618 |
| Memory | 108723 | 149125 |
| UX | 170923 | 347946 |
| Total score | 582451 | 1087108 |
| Samples | [14 tests] | [17 tests] |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | - | 85% |
| Graphics test | - | 10 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 12 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 10 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 7 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2552 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 86% |
| Graphics test | - | 11 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 1961 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 10572 | - |
| Video editing | 4298 | - |
| Photo editing | 22564 | - |
| Data manipulation | 8881 | - |
| Writing score | 13360 | - |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig) | GeekBench GPU | 1246 |
| 📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig) | GeekBench CPU | 917 / 1939 |
| 📘 2026-07-31 (Samsung galaxy tab A9+) | GeekBench CPU | 907 / 2014 |
| 📘 2026-07-31 (Samsung galaxy tab A9+) | AnTuTu | 582451 |
| 📘 2026-07-26 (Abolfazl) | AnTuTu | 601154 |
Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021)
No benchmark results yet
Memory
Configuration
| RAM size | 4 GB | 3 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 64 GB | 64 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.2 | NVMe |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1024 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 | iPadOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5) |
| ROM | One UI 5.1 | - |
| OS size | 22.9 GB | - |
| OS updates | 5 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 7040 mAh | 8557 mAh |
| Max charge power | 15 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 60 min) | Yes (24% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 2:58 hr | 2:45 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1200 cycles | - |
| Web browsing | 08:57 hr | - |
| Watching video | 11:07 hr | - |
| Gaming | 05:44 hr | - |
| Standby | 155 hr | - |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 8 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | No | No |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| Slow motion | No | 120 FPS (720p) |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 8 MP |
1) Standard: 8 MP |
| Camera features | - | - |
| Image resolution | 8 MP | 8 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | - | 31 mm |
| Pixel size | - | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 5 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | - | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | - | f/2.4 |
| Sensor | CMOS | - |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | No | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.1 | 4.2 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | - |
| USB type | USB Type-C | No |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS |
| NFC* | No | No |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 18 | - |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
| Speakers | 4.0 | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | Yes |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Announced | October 2023 | September 2021 |
| Release date | October 2023 | September 2021 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $219 | $329 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ (Plus) | - Apple iPad 11" (11th Gen, 2025) |
| Sensors | - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass |
- Barometer - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Keyboard weight | - | 293 g |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Yes, 20 W |
Further details
Notes on Galaxy Tab A9+ (Plus):
- Doesn't have S Pen support.
Notes on iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021):
- Supports 1st generation of Apple Pencil.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPad 10.2" (9th Gen, 2021) is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 64